Villagers say Rwandan troops crossed into Congo

Representatives of the rebels and the Congolese government last met on Feb. 6.

Kiyonga said the split within M23 "presents a new challenge" for the talks, which Uganda has mediated since December under the banner of a regional bloc called the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, or ICGLR, of which Congo is a member. Regional leaders under ICGLR have said M23's grievances are "legitimate."

The fighting within M23 has left some of the rebel group's representatives stranded in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, with Makenga naming a new political chief and alienating those believed to be loyal to Runiga. Francois Rucogoza, the former leader of M23's peace delegation to Uganda, is now afraid to go back to Congo, Kiyonga said.

The split within M23 was the result of a new thinking among some in the rebel ranks who suspect they would lose the patronage of regional countries such as Rwanda if they failed to make peace with the Congolese government, said Angelo Izama, a political analyst with a regional security think tank called Fanaka kwa Wote.

"What caused the rift, as far as I can understand, is that a deal has been brokered by Makenga and others to give up Ntaganda," Izama said. "I don't think there is anything more sinister than that."